Wide Open Road - Typewriter Day, 2014

Sadly, the materials I set aside to undertake Michael Clemens typing challenge were accidentally disposed of in a freak cleaning accident. So, instead I decided to strap my typewriter to the motorbike, and head out on to the 'wide open road' - a cafe in Brunswick. 

And let's face it. If there was every a cafe that sounded like the place I'd be typing at, 'Wide Open Road' would be it. 

*Just a note on the use of the word 'hipster' below here. The cafe wasn't actually filled with hipsters on MacBooks  but rather I'm making a play on the 'hipster on a typewriter' stereotype. It is a lovely cafe with a warm and open feel. While for the first 10 minutes I felt like the oldest person in the room, soon I discovered that I was actually comparatively young compared to a lot of the customers! The W.O.R. is a very diverse and interesting cafe.

I parked down the alley way beside the cafe, where someone has worked on a gorgeous design along the side of the building. Also, check out how perfect that case on the SM3 is for motorbikes!  

Is that a Macbook I see back there? One of three I saw adorning the tables of the cafe. 

Oh my gaaaaaawd! Thick cut bacon. My mouth is watering just looking at it. Okay, time to push the typewriter aside and.... eat. 

Thanks guys for letting my type in your cafe! 

As I was packing to leave, I got approached by someone who wanted to talk about typewriters. They were very interested, and I'm going to bring some other machines by write some more in the future. Looks like there's plenty of typewriter love out there. 

A place called home.

The day I died (and went to hell)

         The Ute. 

Utes are a very common vehicle in Australia. They were invented here to service the needs of our farmers. However they have become synonymous with any male (and often females) wishing to paint themselves as a "hard-working Aussie'. As such they have become popular with tradesmen and lazy dickheads. Typically most tradesmen will be better served with a van, however in order to prove their masculinity they often buy these things so that they could 'just throw stuff' in the back, and look blokey when they drive around. However some have gone to the extent of bolting in lockable boxes the size of the tray after they have discovered that their tools and supplies are easily stolen, and they can't transport beer without it sliding all over the place. 

On the streets utes are a danger. Not only do they frequently spill their contents onto the road (I've sometimes had to swerve to avoid ladders, paint, pipes, entire air-conditioning units etc.) but often they are driven by testosterone laden wankers that drive like they think they are in a race car. As such, they can even buy over-powered race-spec equipped utes that often end up wrapped around a tree because the rear of the car has close to no grip on the road unless it is carrying a load. 

But I digress...